Australia claims Wikileaks is illegal

Australians may not be allowed to see the Wikileaks site in the future.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the leaking of classified documents via the WikiLeaks website is "illegal". The Australian Federal Police are investigating whether WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange's publication of secret US cables breaches any local laws.

However Gillard told Fairfax Radio she was receiving briefings on the Australian security officials' assessment of the documents. She slammed the placement of this information on the WikiLeaks website claiming that it's a grossly irresponsible and an illegal thing to do.

Legal experts say there are a number of jurisdictional problems with prosecuting the publisher, including the fact the documents are American in origin and that the website is based in Europe. However Australia is planning to filter the web of “illegal content” in the future as part of its “great rabbit proof fence” filters.

If Wikileaks is what the government considers “illegal” then it is fair to assume it will be censored in the future.